Presbyterian pluralism
Subtitle: competition in a Protestant house
By: William J. Weston.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: University of Tennessee Press
Published: 1997
Place of publication: Knoxville
Language: eng
Number of pages: 192
Subjects: Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. -- History -- 19th century.; Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. -- History -- 20th century.; Religious pluralism -- Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.; Religious pluralism -- United States.; Presbyterian Church -- United States -- History -- 19th century.; Presbyterian Church -- United States -- History -- 20th century.; United States -- Church history -- 19th century.; United States -- Church history -- 20th century.
Description: Focusing on the heated ideological struggles that occurred within the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., during the late 1800s and early 1900s, this book offers a compelling and original explanation of how diverse viewpoints can be accommodated within a religious institution.

The Presbyterian example, William J. Weston argues, shows clearly that "competition" is the only effective kind of pluralism for a church - one that leads neither to institutional paralysis nor to irreconcilable division. Much of the current literature in the sociology of religion sees intradenominational conflict in terms of "culture wars" between two great factions or parties.

However, in the competition model that Weston posits in this book, it is actually a third party - the loyalist center - that holds the power and that ultimately determines the outcome of the struggle. Essential reading for sociologists and historians of religion, Presbyterian Pluralism reaches important conclusions that will engage anyone concerned with conflict inside organizational structures and how it might be contained.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [173]-185) and index.
Table of contents: title: The Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. before the Briggs case; title: 1890s: the Briggs case and its aftermath; title: 1900s: broadening the base; title: 1910s: rhetorical fundamentalism; title: 1920s: fundamentalists and modernists fight for the center; title: 1929: the battle for Princeton Seminary; title: 1930s: Machen and the conservative separation; title: The liberal: Charles A. Briggs; title: The conservative: J. Gresham Machen; title: The loyalists: the special commission of 1925; title: Princeton and Union: the dialogue of pluralism; title: Parties in the Presbyterian Church; title: Competitive pluralism; title: Presbyterian pluralism today: a postscript.